E85 Madness: GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Back to Normal
As we mentioned yesterday, GM has bought a piece of Coskata, a bacteria-loving ethanol high tech start-up. Speaking to DailyTech, GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz described the process. “All the other companies use enzymes, which are incredibly expensive.” Instead, Coskata grinds organic wastes into a powder which is “then exposed to plasma, which causes the organic powder to ferment, releasing carbon-chain gas.” [NB: plasma is a superheated ionized gas which would incinerate the material] This gas “rises into the air where natural anaerobic bacteria eats [sic] the gas molecules and excretes [sic] ethanol and water vapor.” [NB 2: anaerobic bacteria can’t survive “in the air”] Maximum Bob promises a pilot plant will produce ethanol this year. By 2011, they’ll be cranking out 50 to 100m gallons of ethanol per year. And get this: “The price per gallon to produce the fuel is approximately $1 per gallon.” MB admits that overhead, profits, shipping, etc. will raise that price to around $2 per gallon. And they’ll have to fight big oil to get their cheap fuel to the masses as “less than 1% of the pumps in the U.S. are ethanol-equipped.” Here’s a thought: why not give GM dealers ethanol pumps? That would more than quadruple America’s E85 outlets at a stroke. Sorry, Bob; make that “with one move.”Â